Automatic ticket-punch.



H. ROWNTREE.

AUTOMATIC TICKET PUNCH..

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6, I9I2.

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STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD ROWTREE, F KENILWORTH, ILIfINOIS.

' punches.

The object of the invention is to provide automatic ticket punch mechanism which is slmple in construction, economlcal to manufacture, and efiicient 1n operation.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a ticket punchmechanism, which Will punch tickets accordingto the correct -amount of fare paid for each ticket, where the tickets issued representvarying values,

while at the same time procuring an auto-1.

matic aggregate or total register of the amountspunched.

Other objects 'of the invention willappear more fully hereinafter. The invention. consists substantially in' the construction,combination, location and relation of -parts, 'all as will be more fully hereinafter set' forth, as shown in the accompanying drawing and inallyy pointed out in the appended claims. Referring to the accompanying drawing and to the various views and' reference signsv appearing ther'eon-z-Figure' 1 is a view in vertical'transverse section on the line 1, l, Fig. 2, of an automatic ticket punch, embodying the principles of my invention, Fig. 2 is a View in front elevation of thek `same, the front inclosing plate being rel The same reference numeral whereverit throughout `the several views.

' In the operation of street car systems it is sometimes desirable for the .street car company to operate'l the cars for fares charged in proportion to' the distance travpart is' designated by the -same eled, T hat is,-it is sometimes customary forv street car companies to operate the same car over or through different fare. payment zones so that the fares charged, vary according -to the distance traveled by the pas- 'sengers In such a case the conductor issues a ticket to eachpassenger when the passengerpays his fare, the-ticket soissued showing the4 amount of fare vpaid by the passenger and consequently thereby indicating the alighting point to which the fare has.

l'Specification of Letters Patent.

AUTOMATIC TICKET-PVUNCH.

Application 1ed October' 16, 1912. Serial No. 725,984.

been paid.- For instance', a passenger boards the car at one point and Wishes to go to the neXt fare payment zone to that in which he boarded the car. In that event the passenger'will pay the fare corresponding to only one zone and will receive a corresponding ticket which is punched to show the amount of the fare paid. Ifhowever, a passenger on boarding the .car wishes to" go tothe second, third, fourth or other subsequent zones before alighting he will inform the conductor of lthe alighting point to which he desires to vproceed and willpay the fare accordingly, in which,event he will receive a corresponding ticket punched with the amount of fare paid.

It is among thespecialpurposes of my present invention to provide a ticket punching device which is adapted'to punch tickets or to indicate thereon-the amount of fare paidby each passenger, .and to enable the f same machine to stamp or punch tickets of various values, while at the same time effecting a total or aggregate register Yof'all the.

fares paid irrespective of the time the fares were paid and irrespective of theA amount for each fare.

In' the accompanying drawing, I have I shown an exceedingly simple vconstruction and arra'ngementadapted for use in carrying out the principles of my invention. I

' do not wish however to be conned, Iin the broadest scope of my invention as defined in the claims, to the specific construction shown and hereinafter to be described.

InV the accompanying drawing, reference `'numeral 5 designates a shaft suitably mounty t ed for rotation within a casing A6.. Upon a. 1 y

shaft 5 is v4p ivotally mounted a' series' of plungers or- .punch members 7, corresponding in number to the various denominations or` values of tickets to be punched.- the form shown, four 'of said plungers .areprobers are'pivotally mounted upon the shaft 5,

to rock independently thereon. They are in the form of bell cranks, the free face in' dicated at 8, of one arm of the "bell fcrank,

'serving the purpose of a punch for punching the tickets, being for that' purpose suit'- ably provided with punch devices. The other arm of said bell crank member 7 is arranged to extend downwardly into the path of the rearend of a slide'block 10, mounted to slide transversely through the casing 6. A spring 11 is arranged to bear against the arm9, of the bell crank punch member, the tension of which is normally exerted to rock the punch member about its pivotal axis al'orded by shaft 5, so a s to raise the ypunching face 8 thereof. A slide block 10, is provided for each punch member 7, and this block is designed to be forced inwardly into the casing and in a direction to engage 4the arm 9 of the bell crank member so as to rock said member about shaft 5 and to cause the printing face 8 thereof to strike down upon a ticket, indicated at 12, placed upon the upper surface of the slide block so as to effect the desired punching thereof. If desired the transverse sliding movement of the block 10 into the casing 6 may be opposed by a spring 13.

lVhile I have referred to the face 8 of the member 7, as being a printing or punching face, I wish to include either printing or punching by the use of either of these terms in this connection. y

The operation of the construction so far described is exceedingly simple.

The conductor is provided with a series of tickets corresponding to the various zones traversed by the car. The tickets may be appropriately printed or colored to distinguish them and to indicate the particular fare zone to which they respectively relate. Vhen a passenger boards the car and pays his fare he indicates to the conductor his desired alighting point. The conductor selects the proper ticket corresponding to the zone `in which the passenger desires to alight and collects the corresponding fare; then grasping the ticket between thumb and fore finger the conductor places it upon the upper surface of the outer projecting end of the block 10, and pushes the block 10 into the casing with the ticket 12 remaining thereon. The inner movement of the block 10 is against the action of the spring 13, and the continued movement inwardly of said block eventually causes its inner end to engage the arm 9 of the bell crank punch member, and to rock said member about the shaft 5, so as to bringthe printing or punching face 8 sharply down upon the ticket lying beneath it on the block 10, thereby effecting the punching of the ticket. Since the ticket has been inserted by the conductor in the punch device corresponding to the fare paid the ticket will be punched to correspond to the fare zone to which the ticket entitles the passenger to ride. After the punching operation has been eifected the conductor releases the pressure upon the slide block 10, and thereupon slide block 10 is again projected out through the front of the casing and the punch member 7 is restored to its normally raised position by means of spring 11.A The apparatus is thereupon ready for another operation. The same operation as above described takes place whether one or another of the slide blocks 10 is manipulated. If desired, and as indicated in big. 2, the various slide blocks 10, may be suitably marked to indicate the values of the tickets corresponding thereto, and the amount of fare which the punch device will punch into the ticket when it is operated.

It is not only desirable to provide a simple punching device, such as above described, but it is equally desirable to provide a register mechanism which will make a register of the amount of the fare punched for the various tickets distributed during a given interval of time. rlhus in the course of a days work a conductor may issue a number of tickets corresponding to one zone for a given fare, and a number of other tickets corresponding to a different zone with a corresponding different amount of fare and so on for the various .fare zones through which the car operates. Since the tickets issued and punched are of varying values it is desirable that a register be effected of the total amounts punched whether the tickets are of one value or another. In accordancev with my invention 1 have provided an exceedingly simple arrangement for'accomplishing this result which I will now describe. Associated with each pivoted bell crank lever punch member 7, is a stop device 14, which serves the purpose of limiting the extent of upward swing of the member 7, when released by the slide 10, moving outwardly. This stop device engaging against the top of the casing, indicated at 15, will accomplish the desired purpose. By so proportioning the sto devices 14 that is in the form illustrated, y making them of varying lengths or heights, it will be observed that the various levers 7, must rise to varying extents or degrees, and consequently, in descending to effect a punching operation they move through varying distances. Upon -each of the punch members 7, is mounted a pawl 16 held by a spring 17, or otherwise in engagement with a ratchet wheel 1S, mounted upon and fixed to rotate with shaft 5. The pawl 16 is so related to the teeth of the ratchet wheel 18, that during the rising movement of the lever 7, the pawl will ride loosely over the teeth of said wheel, but in descending to effect the punching or printing operation the pawl will engage a tooth of the ratchet wheel and rotatively displace the same and the shaft 5, to an extent corresponding to the extent of descending movement of the punch member; and since the descending movement of the punch member is governed by the extent of Any suitable registerin with one hand elevation of said member permitted by reason of the length or adjustment of the stop device 14, it will be seen that the shaft is rotatively displaced by the actuation of each punch member to an extent corresponding to the value punched u on the ticket. mec ianism may be arranged to be operate' by the rotative displacement of shaft 5. Such a registering mechanism is indicated at 19 in Fig. 2.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the construction and arrangement shown is exceedingly simple and enables the conductor by one motion to stamp a ticket with the correct amount of fare which it represents, and which the passenger paid for it, while at the same time it accomplishes automatically the register of the amount of fare paid, and, in addition, it accomplishes an aggregate register of all of the fares paid, even though the fares paid vary in amount from each other. With this arrangementl the conductor can collect the fare and stamp the ticket and hand it to the passenger with the other hand, thereby enabling the passengers to rapidly pay their fares and to enter the car.

Having nonr set forth the object and nature of my invention and a construction embodying the principles thereof of what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and I desire to secure by Letters Patent isz-'- 1. In a ticket punch device, a casing, a punch member pivotally mounted therein, a slide block upon which the ticket to be punched is to be placed and means controlled by the sliding movement of said slide block for causing the punch member to punch the ticket.

2. A ticket punch device comprising a casing, a punch member pivotally mounted therein, means normally operating to maiutain said member in raised position, a slide block adapted to slide into said casing and to receive the ticket to be punched, and means enga ed by the inward movement of the said sli e block for causing said punch member to rock to effect the punching operation.

3. In a ticket punch device, a casing, a shaft mounted therein, a. bell crank lever Gopiel of this vatxnt may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the mounted u on said shaft to rock thereon, one arm o said lever forming a punching member, a slide block mounted to said casing and arranged to engage the other arm of said lever to effect the punching operation of said member.

4. In a ticket punch device, a casing having a shaft arranged therein, a bell crank lever pivotally mounted at its angle upon said shaft, one arm of said lever forming the punching member, means for normally maintaining said member in raised position,

a slide block upon which the ticket to be punched is adapted to be placed, the other arm of said bell crank lever arranged in the path of movement of said block, whereby, when said block is moved into said casingr slide into said punching member is depressed to elect a punching of the ticket.

In an automatic ticket punch device, a casing, a shaft mounted therein, a bell crank lever journaled upon said shaft to rock thereon, one ticket punch member, a spring engaging thc other arm ot said lever to normally maintain the punch member in raised position, a slide block upon which the ticket to he punched is adapted to arm of the bell crank lever arranged in the line of movement of said slide block, whereby, when said slide is pushed into said casing the punch member of said lever is operated to sta-mp the ticket.

6. In a ticket punch device, a casing, a shaft mounted therein, a series of punch membersy pivotally mounted on said shaft for independent rocking movement, a slide arm of said lever forming a l be placed, said other block associated with each punch member,

HAROLD ROIVNTREE.

Witnesses:

W. A.. DARBY, S. E. DARBY.

Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

